<strong>Feb. 9 is National Pizza Day, a day to celebrate what might be Italy’s greatest contribution to mankind.</strong>
A fresh Margherita pizza is ready for its customer at The Angry Penne.
MAMA mia! Feb. 9 is National Pizza Day, a day to celebrate what might be Italy’s greatest contribution to mankind.
Saipan may not be anywhere close to pizza’s birth country, but on island we still have a love for fresh and hot slices of pizza. Here at the Marianas Variety we’re definitely ready to celebrate with a cheesy, saucy slice topped with our favorite ingredients.
We’re sure our dear readers don’t need any excuse to munch on some great pizza, but how about we guide you to the three winners of the 2025 Best of the Marianas pizza category, just to get the pizza slicer rolling?
Over at Pizza Hut a stuffed crust pizza and wings combo is $29.99. Also, customers can get two large specialty pizzas for $18.99 each. But if you feel like going all-out with your pizza meals, why not a buffet? Lunch buffet at Pizza Hut is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Pay for three buffet customers and get a fourth for free.
Over at the Godfather’s Bar they have your classic toppings like supreme, meatlovers, and Hawaiian just waiting to be devoured.
Lourdes Montemayor, Godfather’s Bar manager, says their customers keep them busy with pizza orders.
As a special Feb. 9 offering, get an 18-inch cheese pizza for $14—saving $3 on your normal order. An 18-inch pepperoni is $16 for National Pizza Day, when it’s normally $22.
As a special Feb. 9 offering, get an 18-inch cheese pizza at Godfather’s Bar for $14, saving $3 on your normal order. An 18-inch pepperoni is $16 for National Pizza Day, when it’s normally $22.
Lourdes Montemayor, the bar’s manager, says their customers keep them busy with pizza orders.
“Every day we have a lot of orders. Every night too,” she humble brags. “We have lunch also from Monday to Wednesday, where it’s $10.99 for the large pizza.”
And if you’re not in the mood for a whole pizza, feel free to order it by the slice, which will only set you back $3.50.
In order to meet Chef Norman’s stringent standards, The Angry Penne uses high-quality mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and emphasizes a balanced amount of sauce and toppings.
In order to meet Chef Norman’s stringent standards, The Angry Penne uses high-quality mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and emphasizes a balanced amount of sauce and toppings.
“What makes a good pizza is doing it right where you don’t just skimp on anything,” Chef Kyle Sakisat says. “You make every ingredient the star of the show. …When you put all those ingredients together, it becomes a crazy combination of flavors.”
The artisans inside The Angry Penne
This is what Chef Kyle Sakisat claims is a “slow day” at The Angry Penne.
Chef Norman Chan says he and his chefs work hard to strike the right balance in their pizzas.
Just a short stroll down to the corner of Coffee Tree Mall and Micro Beach Road is the bronze winner of the Best of the Marianas pizza division, The Angry Penne, where Chef Norman Chan and company are busy firing pizzas straight out of their brick oven.
Chef Norman says he and his chefs work hard to strike the right balance with their pizzas.
“The whole idea of what I wanted to do from the get-go is I like the Neapolitan authentic Italian-style pizza, but I also like New York-style pizza. I set out trying to find the in-between,” Chef Norman tells Marianas Variety.
Guests at The Angry Penne can have their choice of the $15 Margherita—which comes with mozzarella, parmesan, basil, and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil); the $15 pepperoni, the $16 Di Joana—which comes loaded with fresh mushrooms, confit tomatoes, basil, and white sauce—the $16 chicken pesto ranch, or a $15 calzone. Additional toppings include house-made Italian sausage, more pepperoni, smoked ham, roasted chicken, or anchovies. And, of course, veggie lovers can ask for extra mushrooms, roasted peppers, fried eggplant, red onions, black olives, confit tomato, or garlic.
At The Angry Penne, the restaurant’s pastry team makes fresh dough daily, before handing it into the expert hands of Chef Kyle Sakisat, who promptly tosses it into a brick oven set somewhere between 650° to 750° Fahrenheit.
Live inside The Angry Penne, Sakisat is somewhat like a one-man pizza making machine. He says Chef Norman is “very particular about his food” and that The Angry Penne’s pizza has to come out charred, yet retain a puffy crust.
In order to strike that balance, Sakisat pays close attention to the oven.
“Here, it’s an open flame oven where the heat source is all over the oven,” he says. “It’s one big flame giving off that heat. It took me a while to get it. I say the longer you work there you can just tell by the heat of the oven whether the floor is at the right temperature and you can tell the way the pizza cooks.”
In order to meet Chef Norman’s stringent standards, Sakisat says The Angry Penne uses high-quality mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and emphasizes a balanced amount of sauce and toppings.
“What makes a good pizza is doing it right where you don’t just skimp on anything,” he says. “You make every ingredient the star of the show. …When you put all those ingredients together it becomes a crazy combination of flavors.”
Server Carlo Caro says the Margherita and chicken bacon ranch pizzas are big sellers, but he is personally “psyched” about any order that has the house-made Italian sausage, which he finds delicious.
He adds that service means treating everyone like family at The Angry Penne.
“You’re definitely going to experience a whole different vibe when you step in for the first time,” he says. “We treat you like a guest in our home in The Angry Penne.”
Just in time for National Pizza Day, Chef Norman adds that The Angry Penne is going to begin selling New York-style pizzas at Tapped Out, the beerhouse next door.
“We’re going to be doing 18-inch pizzas [at Tapped Out],” he says. “It’s a lot more of a straightforward pizza—cheese, peperoni, sausage, or meat lovers, and supreme.
There you have it! Get your orders in today and celebrate National Pizza Day all weekend.
